Law enforcement officers and vehicles surrounded the vehicle (far left) driven by Anthony John Graziano, 45, following a gun battle with the man near Main Street on the 15 freeway in Victorville Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2022. Graziano was the main suspect in the killing of his wife Monday near Cypress Elementary School in Fontana. The couple’s 15-year-old daughter Savannah Graziano, dressed in tactical gear, was also killed. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
The man wanted for fatally shooting his wife and kidnapping his daughter in Fontana was shot to death — as was his daughter, who was wearing tactical gear — at the end of a rolling gun battle with San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputies along the 15 Freeway in Hesperia on Tuesday morning, Sept. 27.
Anthony John Graziano, 45, was pronounced dead at the scene, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said. The girl, 15-year-old Savannah Graziano, was taken to a hospital and died shortly before noon.
The girl was struck during the firefight as she got out of the passenger seat and ran toward deputies while wearing armor plating on her chest and a helmet, Sheriff Shannon Dicus said at an afternoon news conference at the Hesperia station.
Anthony Graziano shot at deputies during the pursuit that started in Barstow, said Dicus, adding, “There may be some indications that the passenger of the vehicle, which we believe is Savannah, may have also been involved in some of the fire exchange.”
Family members stand near a makeshift memorial near Cypress Elementary School after placing flowers near the site of the shooting in Fontana on Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2022. Anthony John Graziano, 45, the dead woman’s husband, was shot and killed by law enforcement after a gun battle on the 15 freeway in Victorville near Main Street. The couple’s 15-year-old daughter Savannah Graziano, dressed in tactical gear, was also killed. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
This undated photo provided by the City of Fontana Police Department shows teen, Savannah Graziano. (City of Fontana Police Department via AP)
This undated photo provided by the City of Fontana Police Department shows 45-year-old Anthony John Graziano, a suspect in a shooting incident. Graziano and his teenage daughter he abducted a day earlier were killed amid a shootout with law enforcement Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2022, on a highway in California’s high desert, authorities said. (Courtesy of City of Fontana Police Department via AP)
A bullet hole in a vehicle’s windshield is seen near Cypress Elementary School Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2022, following Monday’s shooting which killed a mother near the Fontana school. Anthony John Graziano, 45, the dead woman’s husband, was shot and killed by law enforcement after a gun battle on the 15 freeway in Victorville near Main Street. The couple’s 15-year-old daughter Savannah Graziano, dressed in tactical gear, was also killed. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
Law enforcement investigators walk north in the shutdown southbound lanes of the 15 freeway in Victorville as they investigate the gun battle with officers which resulted in the death of Anthony John Graziano, 45, and his daughter Savannah Graziano, 15, near Main Street Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2022. Graziano was the main suspect in the killing of his wife Monday near Cypress Elementary School in Fontana. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
Family members stand near a makeshift memorial near Cypress Elementary School after placing flowers near the site of the shooting in Fontana on Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2022. Anthony John Graziano, 45, the dead woman’s husband, was shot and killed by law enforcement after a gun battle on the 15 freeway in Victorville near Main Street. The couple’s 15-year-old daughter Savannah Graziano, dressed in tactical gear, was also killed. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
San Bernardino County Sheriff Shannon Dicus speaks during a press conference in Hesperia Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2022, as he speaks about the shootout with Anthony John Graziano and law enforcement officers on the 15 freeway in Victorville Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2022, which also resulted in the death of his 15-year old daughter Savannah Graziano who was dressed in tactical gear. Graziano was the main suspect in the killing of his wife Monday near Cypress Elementary School in Fontana. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
Family members stand near a makeshift memorial near Cypress Elementary School after placing flowers near the site of the shooting in Fontana on Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2022. Anthony John Graziano, 45, the dead woman’s husband, was shot and killed by law enforcement after a gun battle on the 15 freeway in Victorville near Main Street. The couple’s 15-year-old daughter Savannah Graziano, dressed in tactical gear, was also killed. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
FILE – This undated photo provided by the City of Fontana, Calif., Police Department shows 45-year-old Anthony John Graziano. Graziano and his teenage daughter he abducted a day earlier were killed amid a shootout with law enforcement Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2022, on a highway in California’s high desert, authorities said. (Courtesy of City of Fontana Police Department via AP, File)
Law enforcement officers and vehicles surrounded the vehicle (far left) driven by Anthony John Graziano, 45, following a gun battle with the man near Main Street on the 15 freeway in Victorville Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2022. Graziano was the main suspect in the killing of his wife Monday near Cypress Elementary School in Fontana. The couple’s 15-year-old daughter Savannah Graziano, dressed in tactical gear, was also killed. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
Dicus said that belief was “preliminary” and that he did not have more information.
Deputies found one firearm, a rifle, in the car, he said. The department had said earlier that shots were fired from Graziano’s car through the back window.
Sheriff’s investigators are now working with Fontana police detectives, the sheriff said, to unravel, among other things, how Savannah Graziano went from being considered a kidnapping victim to dying in a hail of gunfire after a possible role in the shooting while wearing body armor on a High Desert freeway.
Authorities received a 911 call at 10:25 a.m. Tuesday after someone recognized Graziano’s white 2017 Nissan Frontier from an Amber Alert that had been issued after Fontana police said the daughter had been kidnapped. Deputies found the car near the junction of highways 395 and 58 near Barstow, and Graziano drove off.
“As a result of that pursuit, the suspect immediately starts firing at our deputies, putting several rounds through the windshield of the patrol unit,” Dicus said.
The chase went along the 58 and then south on the 15, through Victorville and into Hesperia, shots being exchanged all the while. Gunshots disabled one patrol car, and one deputy was injured by shrapnel, Dicus said.
Graziano left the freeway lanes at Main Street, where the car stopped in a dirt shoulder bordered by the off-ramp, the freeway and Main.
The exchange of shots continued as Savannah Graziano — who Dicus said could not immediately be recognized in her gear — went down.
Deputies eventually worked their way to the car, where they found Anthony Graziano dead in the driver’s seat, Dicus said.
Graziano was suspected of shooting his wife at about 7:30 a.m. Monday near Cypress Elementary School. A witness said he saw a man get out of his car and fire on the woman as she ran from her car. Her name has not been announced.
People who identified themselves as Graziano family members gathered late Tuesday morning at a small memorial at Monday’s shooting site. They declined to be interviewed.
Fontana Sgt. Christian Surgent said Tuesday that his department had not determined a motive for that slaying.
